Number Two
by iFlipForRizzles
Summary: Kara reaches her limit when Cat hires a second assistant – a woman with a complicated name that she doesn't even attempt to get wrong – and now they have to face the pain they've been causing one another. Based on the sneak peek for 1x14.


**Hey, so this is my first Supergirl fanfic! I have ideas for other stories, but this one was urgent. When I read a week ago that the next episode included Cat hiring a second assistant, I just about lost my shit. And by 'just about' I mean I completely did. As if that wasn't bad enough, they had to go and release that devastating clip this weekend. (If you haven't seen it, please do. It will ruin your life.) So here we are. This is just a snippet of their day, a couple scenes I imagined based on what I've seen and read of the episode so far.**

When Siobhan Smythe finally went on her lunch break, at Cat's insistence no less, Kara managed to work up the nerve to enter her boss's office for the first time today.

"Miss Grant, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"I don't know, Number Two, _can you_?" Kara pursed her lips, glancing at the ground for a moment to gather her bearings. Cat sighed impatiently. "You have sixty seconds, starting when you entered my office. Go."

Eyes widening in panic, she rushed out, "Miss Grant, you didn't need to hire another –"

Head popping up from behind her tablet, cocked to the side in surprise, Cat held out a finger and asked, "I'm sorry, do my ears deceive me, or was my lowly assistant taking it upon herself to tell me how to do my job?"

Looking truly fearful now, Kara stumbled over her words. "I-I didn't mean- I just, if this is punishment for yesterday I promise –"

"Yesterday, you mean the day you arrived three hours late to work?" Kara hung her head in shame. "Or the day you attempted to fake-cry your way into getting time off? Or how about the day you brought me a latte filled with disgusting, fattening _whole milk_?"

Kara gasped and covered her mouth. "He did what?" she whispered in horror.

"What was that?" _He?_ Cat wondered. _What he?_ She made a mental note to do some digging into that bit of information at a later time.

"I'm so sorry, I-I know better Miss Grant! I really wasn't in my right mind yesterday," technically the truth, "but I swear it'll never happen again."

"Hmm… It better not, or I _will_ go back to having only one assistant and she won't be you. You may go, Number Two."

Kara left the office wanting to cry – even more than usual, that is – her head low at the continued use of her new name.

S

Having fired Siobhan for being a Lord Technologies spy, Cat had no choice but to go looking for Number Two. She found her after a search of the entire floor when she passed by the stairwell and heard a poor attempt to muffle loud sobs.

Opening the door, she started to yell, "Kei-" only to pause at the sight before her. The usually bubbly, sunny young woman was curled up on the stairs, knees pulled up to her chest, face buried in arms crossed on her lap. Something pulled at Cat's heartstrings, which only further fueled her anger. Since when did she feel pain when an employee was hurting? Even if that employee was Kara. "That's twice in two days, Keira, that you've broken my Golden Rule. Give me one reason why I shouldn't fire you on the spot." _Besides the fact that I just fired my other assistant, and, despite everything, you're still the most competent one I've ever had_.

Without warning or stopping to think about her actions Kara leapt up from her spot on the stairs, hardly remembering to use human strength and speed, seeking physical comfort and needing to feel close to the other woman after all that had happened between them recently. She latched herself on to Cat Grant and continued sobbing into her neck.

Cat stood frozen, completely out of her depth, and it took only a few moments for Kara to realize what she'd done. Just as Cat had raised an arm – to offer comfort or push her away, Cat couldn't be sure – she pulled back, almost as quickly as she'd approached. She turned abruptly away from Cat, covering her face with her hands.

"Keira?" Cat asked uncertainly, beyond out of her element. This was why she had a No Crying rule to begin with.

"My aunt just died," Kara said softly. Cat's mouth snapped shut, her eyes widening at the new information. "My mother's identical twin sister. She only just came back into my life, and we've been fighting so much, and now she's just… gone." She paused for a moment, choking back more sobs. "That's why I was acting so strange yesterday." She felt horrible for lying, and about Astra especially, but her aunt _was_ partly to blame for her being gone yesterday, and coming into CatCo was the only thing she thought could make her feel normal for a few hours; to forget about all that had been happening in her personal life and just focus on work.

Or it would have been, if the fight with Cat wasn't still going strong.

"I… I'm sorry." And dammit, Cat never stuttered. Except when it came to Kara, apparently. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Kara turned around, a look of confusion on her wet, red face. "Because, you said you wanted to keep things _strictly professional_." Cat was sure she imagined the hint of bitterness in the young woman's tone. Surely that hadn't been just as hard on Kara?

Cat sighed.

The whole thing with Adam had gotten completely out of hand. She knew she shouldn't have pushed them together, feeling how she did about the girl, but honestly they were perfect for one another and she genuinely wanted them both to be happy.

So yes, she was mad that their 'break up' - if it could even be called such a thing - had driven her son away. But she was also (unreasonably) upset with Kara for her constant availability, making it easier for Cat to hope.

And that was much too dangerous a road to go down.

"Kara," she started, slipping in the name without realizing. Kara's mouth fell a little. "A death in the family is a perfectly understandable reason to take time off. Surely you must know this."

"I was afraid you'd think I was lying," she admitted, though of course she – or rather Hank – couldn't have given that as a reason yesterday. But the words were true enough for how she felt today, waking up screaming and crying from the intermingling of nightmares and memories.

"Kara," Cat sighed regretfully, privately wondering how things had gotten so bad between them so quickly.

"It hurts, Miss Grant. You said keeping our relationship professional would mean neither of us got hurt, but you were wrong."

Wiping under her eyes to remove the remaining tears, Kara moved around her boss to the door of the stairwell. She wrapped her arms around her stomach protectively as she moved into the hallway, almost as though the action could physically hold her together.

Cat remained standing, stunned, in the stairwell of her building, wondering if the hurt Kara had mentioned felt anything like her own.

 **Sorry if that was just a rambling mess. I had too many feelings after the sneak peek that needed to get out. I don't do feelings well. Thanks, show.**

 **(Also, does anyone else suspect Siobhan Smythe might be related to Sebastian Smythe?)**


End file.
